A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few specific, simple steps are followed. This iconic cake has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from the best top end fine bakeries, and is topped with soft, cream cheese frosting.
After Red Velvet Cupcakes? Here they are! UK readers: Please read note 7.
Red Velvet Cake recipe – tried and tested favourite!
This Red Velvet Cake has been taste tested and given a big thumbs up by many people because it’s a rather large cake and I’ve made it 5 times in the last two weeks.
“FIVE TIMES??!!”, I hear you exclaim (out loud or in your head). “You’re MAD!!”
If getting this cake exactly to my taste, as close as I can get it to the cakes you get from posh bakeries, and ensuring it works using both US and metric (i.e. rest of the world!!) measures means that I’m a mad baker, I’ll take that title. 😉
Besides, I’m really enjoying baking at the moment. There is something so satisfying about making something as pretty as Red Velvet Cake.
To tell you the honest truth, the reason I made it so many times in recent weeks is because my original recipe got a “so-so” response from the two toughest taste-testers I know: my mother and brother.
“The sponge is zara-zara”, my mother declared on first bite.
What the….?? Zara-zara? What on earth does that mean??
“Zara-zara” means “rough” in Japanese. The Japanese language has a handful of words which sound like what it means. “Zara-zara” being a perfect example. Usually it cracks me up. Not that day.
I gasped, indignant, and grabbed a spoon to shovel a bite into my mouth, ready to argue. And I realised – she was right. It was not as velvety as it could be. As it should be.
NOT HAPPY.
So I improved it. 🙂
What is Red Velvet Cake?
Red Velvet Cake is not just a chocolate cake with red food colouring added. This cake is softer than most, “velvet-like”, and the chocolate taste is actually quite mild. It’s more like a cross between a vanilla and chocolate cake with a very subtle tang from buttermilk. And it is generously smothered in a fluffy cream cheese frosting.
It’s wildly popular in America and there’s a cult following in Australia. Give it a few years, it will become a firm favourite soon!
The cake tastes buttery and moist, because it has butter in it for flavour, and oil for moisture. Yes, you need both, I promise you. It is not the same if you use only one of them.
Why should you use THIS Red Velvet Cake!
There are 3 more specific things about this recipe which might be a bit different to other Red Velvet recipes you have seen, but there’s a reason for it.
1. Cake flour – it’s a must! It’s key to achieving that soft silky sponge, just like what you get from posh bakeries. However, if you really can’t find it, please see the notes for a substitute;
2. Only 2 eggs – I’ve seen some recipes call for up to 5 eggs. I only use 2. It’s enough to hold the cake together just fine – any more than 2, and find the cake begins to start tasting “eggy”; and
3. Buttermilk – For almost every other baking recipe that I make using buttermilk, I say that you can substitute with lemon juice + milk which, when left for 5 minutes, curdles to have the same effect as using buttermilk. Not for this recipe – sorry! It is just not the same – part of the reason mine was “zara zara”. 😂
Oh, and one more rule. There is no substitute for Philadelphia Cream Cheese for the frosting. I’ve tried better value store-brand cream cheese before. It is never the same. Promise. ❤
I bake the layers in 2 separate tins, but if you don’t have two tins, you can make one big one and cut the cake in half. And to make the layers nice and neat, I cut the dome top off.
I like to crumble the off cuts and use it to decorate the cake. I think it looks pretty, don’t you? But that’s purely optional!
I promise you, there is nothing tricky about this cake. All you have to do is ensure you measure the ingredients properly, rather than just eye-balling it. 😉 As long as you do that, it’s actually easy to make, no more difficult than an ordinary sponge cake.
Putting aside fiddly fancy decorated cakes, Red Velvet Cake is surely one of the most striking and stunning cakes around. If you’ve never tried it before, you’re in for a real treat! – Nagi x
Red Velvet Cake
Watch how to make it
How to make Red Velvet Cake – quick tutorial video! Red Velvet Cake for UK readers – please ensure you read Notes 7 and 9.
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Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups (400 g) plain cake flour (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp (10 g) cocoa powder , unsweetened
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda / bi-carb soda , NOT baking powder (Note 2)
- Pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter , softened (1 US stick)
- 1 1/2 cups (330 g) caster / superfine white sugar (Note 3a)
- 2 eggs , at room temperature (around 2 oz / 60g each)
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk , at room temperature (Note 4)
- 2 1/2 tbsp red food colouring liquid (UK: use Gel, Note 7)
Frosting (Note 10)
- 14 oz (400 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, block , softened but not too soft (UK see Note 9)
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter , softened (but not too soft)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (450 g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar sifted (Note 3b)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types). Butter 2 x 21cm / 8″ round cake pans (sides and base) and dust with cocoa powder.
- Sift the Dry Ingredients and whisk to combine in a bowl.
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beater or in stand mixer until smooth and well combined (use paddle attachment if using stand mixer).
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to combine. At first it will look curdle – keep beating until it’s smooth.
- Add vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and red food colouring. Beat until combined and smooth (Note 5).
- Add Dry Ingredients. Beat until just combined – some small lumps is ok, that’s better than over mixing.
- Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes on the same shelf, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Note 6)
- Rest for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.
Frosting
- Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes (this makes it really smooth and changes from yellow to almost white). Add icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy to your taste. If your frosting seems too runny (depends on quality of cream cheese/ if the cream cheese was too soft), just add more icing sugar.
Frost Cake
- Cut the top off the cake using a serrated knife (to make the layers neat).
- Spread one cake with 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with the other cake. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
- Optional: Crumble offcuts and use to decorate the top rim and base of the cake.
Recipe Notes:
Let them eat cake! 10 more classic cakes
.Life of Dozer
This is how he starts every day: assessing the surf. 😉
Made this cake for Christmas. Sublime!
My daughter said she now only wants this cake for birthdays. The cream cheese I used was mon chou because I could not find the Philadelphia block. For the dye I used 2 teaspoons (Dutch size not Amarican) powder dye.
Many thanks for this great recipy!
That’s so great to hear Elisabeth! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Hi Nagi!
Tried your recipe and it is awesome! Would like to know if this recipe would work for red velvet cupcakes as well?
This is amazing Nagi! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I tried it and it was a massive hit with the family on Christmas; velvety texture ❤️
I was asked by a customer for a Red Velvet cake for a Christmas party, I made a sample last week using your recipe as I’ve never made one before and wanted them to try it out before making their 2 tier Christmas’s cake. They LOVED it! I also had a try and oh my goodness! Delicious flavour…GREAT texture, just perfect!! Thank you so much! Merry Christmas to you from the UK xx
That’s terrific to hear Amelia! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know. Merry Christmas to you too! – N x ❤️
HI Nagi
Question about 1 tsp of 5g baking soda / bi-carb soda, do I actually use either/ or as these two are actually not the same. I have both so do I use 1 tsp of bi-carbonate. .
Hi Lynne! Bi carb and baking soda are the same thing. It is baking POWDER that is different 🙂 Just use 1 tsp of baking soda please!
I’m going to make this cake this weekend. I have never made a red velvet cake so I hope I don’t fail. In South Africa we rarely get Philadelphia cream cheese bloks so I got the lancewood full cream blok hope it works just as well.
The cake was amazing. After another recipe failed, this was a life saver!!
Love hearing that HnS!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know – N x ❤️
I really want to make this but sadly you cannot purchase buttermilk here in Sweden! I might give it ago anyway but there isn’t much I can do besides substitute the butter milk.
That’s ok Gup! use the sub in the recipe!
Hello, I see your recipe states to use 8 inch pans. My pans are 9 inch pans (it appears 8 inch pans are no longer available in the big box stores in the US). Will this recipe work for these pans? Should I reduce cooking time?
Thanks
That will be fine Donna! Just reduce the cook time by 3 minutes, not much!
Can you freeze this cake? Trying to plan for Christmas day with alot of items to cook and would like to freeze as much as possible. Maybe freeze cake before frosting and then frosting day before? Thoughts?
That should be fine Lillian! I haven’t tried it but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work 🙂 N x
I made this at Thanksgiving this year and it was a hit! This is by far the best Red Velvet recipe I’ve tried and I have tried several. I will definitely make this again!
That’s so great to hear Stacey! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
Hi nagi, Im thinking of making this wonderful looking cake for my daughters birthday as a unicorn cake. Do you think the icing is of a piping consistency for me to pipe the ‘mane’ part on?
Hi Beena! Yes it sure will 🙂 It is very soft frosting but will hold it’s shape if piped. It’s like whipped cream, but not quite as soft and airy. Happy birthday to your daughter! N x
This was the best cake I’ve ever made! So soft, so moist and so delicious, thank you so much!
Been looking for a red velvet recipe for ages and this one looks fabulous. However, I think it would be helpful to indicate the depth of 8” tin required. I used standard ones, about 3cm deep and the mixture overflowed so deeper ones would be better…..unless I did something wrong. Looking forward to icing and eating it though😀
Hi
How much red food colouring- gel do I use, please? Is it the same as liquid (2 1/2 table spoon)? Gel is more condensed so perhaps less?, I wouldn’t like to spoil it.
Thank you!
x
Hi Jenseny! Where are you, in the UK? If so, use the amount per recipe because gel in the UK is like colouring elsewhere. If you are not in the UK, use 1 tsp of gel in place of the colouring liquid. 🙂
This is amazing! I used all purpose flour and substituted the white vinegar with lemon juice. I also made this by hand with a flat wooden laddle. It turned out moist and fluffy and the butter makes it really creamy. Will definitely recommend this.
WHOOT WHOOT!!! 🙌🏻
I also used all-purpose flour insted of cake flour. I used whipped cream as frosting. Just a few people tasted it and one of them wants me to make it for her daughter’s. She didn’t believe me at first when I said I made it from scratch with mum’s help because I’m just a teen. Thanks Nagi! ☺☺☺😊😊😊😀😀😀
*Her daughter’s birthday.
Hi, I only have 3 6” cake tins. Do you have any idea how long I wouls need to bake this recipe in these tins instead of 2 8” tins? Thanks so much! Evie
Hi Evie! I think about 22 minutes 🙂
Looks so yummy!! How long this red velvet cake can survive / not stale?
Looks so yummy!! How long this red velvet cake can survive / not stale?
Great for 2 days, still good for 4 days, as long as you keep it in an airtight container!
I have been researching cups to grams – bit confused (live in AU)- the 2 and 2/3cup of flour is around 315-350g
I searched 1 cup cake flour in USA and I cup cake flour in AU – they don’t differ too much but I can’t work out how it could be 400g. Would it make the cake dry to add 400g flour as opposed to 2and2/3 cup ? (other measurements I also checked and doesn’t seem to differ too much AU/US) so could probably interchange the cups/tsp to gms. I’m just not sure about the cake flour. Any advice would be great! 🙂 thank you
Hi Sandy! There is definitely a lot of conflicting information out there 🙂 I am guided by the standard Australia measurements which is used by cooking magazines like Super Food Ideas which I used to do a section for. 1 standard Australian cup of cake flour is 150g so 2 2/3 cups is 400g. 🙂 I cup in the states is less than 400g because their cups are smaller. You can use either the cups or weights because you are in Australia! Hope that helps. – Nagi
Hi. Is the temperature for a fan oven?
Hi Kirsty! It’s for all oven types, I find there’s no discernible difference with standard vs fan, the both cook within the same 25- 30 minutes and come out the same. Fan oven is probably done just under 25 minutes but the cake is so moist, it doesn’t affect it by leaving in longer so I write this recipe using 1 oven temp 🙂 N x
Thank you. I made the cake this afternoon and you’re right – I have a fan oven and it was done in just under 25mins! Brilliant recipe, I’m in the UK, so I followed your tips and it turned out beautifully.
That’s so great Kirsty! So pleased to hear that! N x
This is basically the same recipe that my ex-mother in law had. It has been lost over the years 🙁 There are a couple of things that we do differently that really take this cake over the top!!
1- make it in a Bundt pan, and only have a single layer of cake.
2- Before icing the cake, and before it has entirely cooled, mix one cup of milk and 1 cup of sugar in a pan, heat it until the sugar has completely dissolved, just before it boils. Pour this mixture over the top of the cake and let it finish cooling. The cake will absorb the liquid. Then ice it. This makes the cake so moist, and just amazing!!
I have also used this exact same recipe, minus the cocoa powder, to make a lemon cake! I just traded the cocoa powder for lemon extract, the red food color for yellow, and added a little lemon zest. It was wonderful!!
I love hearing that Nicole!! Thanks for sharing! N x
Hi Nagi,
I would like to make this cake for Thanks Giving, but wanted check first if the amount of sugar recommended is this recipe for the American palate? I personally prefer the European cakes as it less sweet.
Hi LiHa! I would say this is European sweet. 🙂 So not quite as sweet as most American cakes (Red Velvet generally is not quite as sweet as some cakes), sweeter than Asian cakes (which are probably the least sweet), so mid point is about European standard. I think that’s why so many people from the UK have enjoyed this recipe so much! N x